There are several types of mint, each with its own subtle difference in flavour and appearance.…

Method

Finely grate the zest of 3 of the lemons into a bowl. Halve all the lemons, then use a fork to squeeze out all the juice and pulp into the bowl with the zest – don’t worry about the seeds. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl, then whisk in the caster sugar until completely combined. Whisk in the cream and lemon juice mix, then set aside.

Place a 23cm tart ring or loose-bottom flan tin on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. On a surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Lift onto a rolling pin, then drape over the tart ring or flan tin, leaving the excess hanging over the edge. Carefully press the pastry into the sides with a small ball of pastry. Put in fridge or freezer for 20 mins to allow pastry to chill.

While the pastry is chilling, heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Prick the base of the pastry case, line with greaseproof paper and baking beans, then bake for 15 mins. Remove the paper and beans, then bake the case for 5-10 mins more until it is biscuity brown and crisp. Lower oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.

Use a ladle to push the lemon custard through a sieve into a bowl, pressing down on the pulp to extract as much juice as possible. Skim the bubbles from the surface of the custard, then pour the custard into a jug. Pull the tart out of the oven slightly, then pour in the custard so it comes to the top. You may have some left over. Push tart back in, then bake for 35-40 mins until the top forms a light crust and the custard is just set. Leave to cool, then chill.

While the tart is cooling, make the berry salad. Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and scatter the icing sugar over the base. Heat until the sugar dissolves and caramelises. Throw in the berries, toss with the sugar, then splash in the sherry vinegar. Bubble for a min until everything is just starting to soften, then tip onto a plate and leave to cool slightly.

Use a serrated knife to trim away the pastry and make a neat edge. Dust the tart lightly with icing sugar, then use a blowtorch to caramelise the top. Leave the top to set, then repeat the process so that you get an extra-thick layer of caramel. Stir the mint through the berries. Serve the tart in slices with a bowl of the berry salad on the side.

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Comments, questions and tips

Comments (57)

Kazmo12th Aug, 2013

Thanks Gordon - the best lemon tart ever! Made this this morning for a lunch date with friends and it was extremely well received. Replaced one of the lemons with a lime and kept the zest in the custard instead of straining it out as suggested - delicious! It may be my oven, but I found the tart needed to be cooked for an extra 10-15 minutes as the filling was still liquid after the 40 minutes stated in the recipe.

I've made this several times now but yesterday made it with a bought pastry case, which was much smaller than the flan ring, so used 3 lemons and halved the rest of the ingredients. Still turned out perfectly. I never blowtorch the top - just use sifted icing sugar instead and it always goes down well!

I have just made this to take to a friends house and only used 3 lemons rather than 5 (plenty lemony!). As I didn't have much time I bought pastry (standard shortcrust not sweet) as prefer it to be a bit softer (given its loaded with cream/sugar anyway) . All in all pretty tasty I have to say and not fiddly. As per GR recipes its not in the slightest bit healthy (6x eggs and masses of double cream) but then its dessert so hardly a good point to make! Would I make it again, I sure would!

This was a huge hit at a recent dinner party. Relatively simple to make apart from my pastry which resembled a patchwork quilt at one stage! Needn't have worried as the end result was fantastic - Will defo make again.

This is the second time i have made this dessert for a dinner party. Absolutely delicious and tart and looks lovely presented.My flan dish is 23cm and the ingredients make exactly the right amount of filling (I never have anything left over)This recipe does not specify what size eggs to use, so i used 6 large eggs.TIP: If you are not going to blowtorch the top of the tart (i don't bother) I would suggest serating the edges of the cooked pastry before you pour in the filling, otherwise you will get bits of pastry on top of the lovely lemon custard which you won't be able to get off without ruining the top.

This is my all time favourite dessert, but I have only ever bought it, to thought it was about time I gave making it a go. However I did not have the courage to make my own pastry so bought a sweet pastry case. The filling was easy to make and the end result was lovely, however I think it would be helpful to say whether the eggs needed should be medium or large, and to advise how much freshly squeezed lemon juice is needed. I served mine with fresh raspberries and a raspberry coulis - yum, yum, yum!!!!!!

Wow! This is definately worth the effort - a dessert that really makes your ears laugh but is well balanced and moreish, especially with the sweet and caramelly brulee top. I made this back in May and had to brulee it under the grille, leaving my pastry rather effectively blackened on top, but I managed to carefully shave this off with a sharp knife. Try this and youll never buy one of those naff, plastic lemon meringue pies from the supermarket again!

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Tips (1)

karola28th Aug, 2013

Easily roll out your chilled, dessert pastry by having a square of cling film on your work top. Put the pastry on this, flour it, then put another layer of film over the pastry and roll out. Then peel off this later of film, flip the pastry into your tin, then peel the remaining top layer of cling film off. Easy!

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